Accused killer assessed hours before girl stabbed to death in bed: police

EDMONTON — Police say a mental-health crisis team visited a man now charged with second-degree murder hours before he allegedly killed a seven-year-old girl in her bed.

A spokeswoman says the Edmonton Police Service was “made aware” that 34-year-old David Michael Moss was having mental issues and a Police and Crisis Team (PACT) visited him at his home Monday.

Patrycja Mokrzan says two constables and a mental-health professional went to the man’s house and he agreed to go to a doctor’s appointment later in the day.

She says when the team left, a friend came to give Moss support.

Police have identified that friend as Melissa Desrosiers, whose daughter, Bella Rose Desrosiers, was stabbed to death in her bed Monday night.

Investigators say that after the assessment, Moss went to the woman’s house, where he allegedly stabbed the girl in front of her mother.

“When it was learned that he did not attend the agreed upon appointment, PACT spoke with Moss on the phone. PACT was made aware of Mr. Moss’s non-attendance through (Alberta Health Services),” Mokrzan says in an email.

“Melissa Desrosiers, who was a friend of Mr. Moss, went to his home to speak with him and provide support. He subsequently attended her residence with her where the tragic events later occurred.”

Alberta’s COVID-19 breakthrough – Highest number of tests and lowest number of new cases in one day

It certainly appears to be a sign that the first wave of COVID-19 is abating. Friday, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer reported 6,455 people were tested over the last 24 hours and there were only 7 new positive cases. This resulted in a very interesting video update from Dr. Deena Hinshaw as the province announced several changes that will be resulting from the success of Alberta’s battle with COVID-19.

Albertans will soon be able to visit loved ones in hospital. The province will continue to move toward protecting Albertans at the highest risk of severe outcomes. That means more freedoms for the majority of Albertans as the province prepares to announce Stage 2 details early next week.

Kenney says details are coming next week, but adds the province is “looking closely” at a recent eviction ban imposed in British Columbia.

Earlier this week, the B.C. government announced it was imposing new rules on landlords who are eligible for federal rent relief but don’t apply for it and try to evict tenants for lack of payment.

Those landlords will not be allowed to evict such tenants through to the end of the month, when the federal rent relief program is set to end.

Kenney says he is hesitant to bring in a blanket ban, given that there may be legitimate reasons to evict a tenant, but says Alberta is taking action and commercial landlords need to “get with the program.”

Kenney also announced a new $200-million program to provide small- and medium-sized businesses with up to $5,000 each to help them reopen following government-imposed lockdowns to battle the pandemic.